Greenhills' AD Seng Honored Nationally for Contributions to Women in Coaching
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 14, 2022
Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director Meg Seng – also a member of the MHSAA Representative Council – has been named the first Peg Pennepacker Paving the Way Award winner by the Global Community of Women in High School Sports.
Seng is in her 38th year of service to schools and athletes, and has served as Greenhills athletic director since 2003 after previously teaching and/or coaching there and Ann Arbor Huron.
The honor from GCWHSS recognizes Seng’s contribution to encouraging female athletes to become coaches. In 2001, Seng co-founded The Academy of Sports Leadership, a non-profit organization that provides education and training for women interested in becoming coaches.
In 2021, Seng received a Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). She also has received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award and Allen W. Bush Award, as well as the Jack Johnson Dedicated Service Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). Seng was named state Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA and Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) during the 2021-22 school year.
Seng received her Pennepacker Award during the recent National Athletic Directors Conference in Nashville, Tenn. Her Greenhills athletic program also was one of two from Michigan (with Mattawan) to receive a Quality Program Award from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
Pennepacker, from Pennsylvania, is an NIAAA Leadership Training Course national faculty member and considered one of the foremost experts nationally on Title IX issues. She formerly served in education for more than 36 years and continues her service in various roles in her state and nationally. She’s received the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award and was inducted into the NIAAA Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
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Jack Johnson, a legendary swim coach at Dearborn and honoree with the MHSAA's Charles E. Forsythe Award in 1988, was among eight inductees into the NIAAA Hall of Fame.
Johnson served as a teacher, athletic director and coach at Dearborn High School for nearly 40 years, leading the boys swimming & diving team to Lower Peninsula Class A championships in 1971, 1972 and 1974 and being named state Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) in 1983.
He also received an NFHS Citation in 1984 and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame that same year; the MHSCA Hall of Fame reports that Johnson won 13 league championships over 17 years and coached 25 high school All-Americans.
Johnson, who died at age 90 in 2019, also served on the MHSAA Representative council, and the MIAAA Distinguished Service Award is named for him.
Ann Arbor Greenhills' Seng to Receive NFHS Citation
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 6, 2021
Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Meg Seng is one of eight high school athletic directors who have been selected to receive a 2021 Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) on Dec. 13, as part of the 52nd National Athletic Directors Conference in Denver sponsored by the NFHS and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
The Citation is one of the NFHS’ highest honors and recognizes recipients for their contributions to educational athletics at the local, state and national levels. State associations nominate candidates, who are then approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Seng is in her 37th year of service to schools and athletes, and has served as Greenhills athletic director since 2003 after previously teaching and/or coaching there and Ann Arbor Huron. She has received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award and Allen W. Bush Award, as well as the Jack Johnson Dedicated Service Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). She was named state Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) last month and will receive the same recognition from the MIAAA in March.
Seng has served on 12 MHSAA committees focused on various topics including specific sports, classification and athletic equity. She also has served on committees as part of the MIAAA’s Leadership Academy faculty and NIAAA’s certification committee, and served as the MIAAA’s Executive Board president in 2013-14. In 2001, Seng co-founded The Academy of Sports Leadership, a non-profit organization that provides education and training for women interested in becoming coaches.
A 1977 graduate of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill., Seng was a scholarship athlete at Indiana University playing both volleyball and softball. She began coaching at the college level after her playing days with the Hoosiers were done, serving first as a graduate assistant softball coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1983-84 while studying for her master’s degree, and then as a softball assistant at Illinois State University for 1984-85.
Seng took over the Ann Arbor Huron volleyball program in 1985, and over 12 seasons stretching two tenures led her team to five league titles and a District championship in 1993. She also served as Huron's co-head varsity softball coach from 1986-90. She completed her teacher certification at Eastern Michigan University in 1990 and began teaching at Greenhills that year, later coaching that school’s volleyball varsity team from 1993-2000 and leading the Gryphons to a District title in 1997.